Attacks on McCain's Military Service WIll Backfire

(Danville, California)

I have written here many times about different strategies each candidate might want to employ to win the White House. It's not an exercise of my favoring one side or the other; it is rather the political strategist in me hypothesizing on how to devise a winning game plan. I will continue to write those strategy columns as the campaign goes on, because people constantly ask me: "What will it take for Obama to win?" or "How can McCain win the White House?"

The reason I bring this up today is that some on the Democratic side are making a huge mistake. Attacking John McCain's military record is NOT how to win this race, and might well backfire.

Retired General Wesley Clark, who is said to be on Barack Obama's "short list" for Vice-president, said of McCain: "He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world; but he hasn't held executive responsibility.... That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn't a wartime squadron."

CBS's "Face the Nation" moderator Bob Schieffer quizzed Clark on the fact that Barack Obama has no military service. "Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be President," Clark replied.

The Internet is also full of attacks on McCain's military service, with some left-wing sites going so far as to call him a "war criminal" because bombs he dropped in Vietnam may have hit civilians. (Never mind that collateral damage has occurred in every war since time began). Even more mainstream political forces have attacked McCain. Consider what Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) told a newspaper in April: "McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they got to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."

Rockefeller, heir to the fortune of his billionaire family, never served in the military. He also later apologized for his McCain comments, and the Obama campaign condemned the Rockefeller remarks.

McCain, by most definitions, is an American war hero. He was shot down in combat, held as a POW for 5 1/2 years, and repeatedly beaten and tortured to the point that he considered committing suicide. The Vietnamese, knowing that McCain's father and grandfather were prominent Navy Admirals, offered to release him early. He refused, insisting on staying with his fellow prisoners and not wanting preferential treatment.

Some Democrats have attacked McCain because they believe the Vietnam War was wrong. The logic of that escapes me. Talk about comparing apples with oranges! McCain was a Navy pilot, obeying orders. That's how the military works. He didn't start the war; he served in it. Whether Vietnam was right or wrong is a different argument for a different day. By the way, whom did President Bill Clinton send when the U.S. reopened diplomatic relations with Vietnam? Why, Sen. John McCain (who even visited his old prison cell) and another former POW, Rep. Pete Peterson (D-FL), who became the U.S. Ambassador. For all his misgivings over Vietnam, Clinton did the right thing at that time.

Even Barack Obama has referred to McCain on many occasions as a "genuine American hero" and says he "honors his service to our country." Fellow Democrats ought to heed Obama's respect, class, and just good common sense and put McCain's military and foreign policy experience "off limits." It's foolish to attack a man's strongest asset. It's like saying Kobe Bryant has no business on the basketball court!

If Democrats want to beat McCain, then attack him on legitimate issues. Criticize his economic policies, or his immigration bill, or his support for "No Child Left Behind." But, for Heaven's sake, just concede that McCain served his country honorably and heroically and leave it be. Even a wise politician by the name of Barack Obama had the good sense to do just that!

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